Longer-term tenancies make for a better private rented sector

The option to avail of a long-term tenancy should be made available particularly for families

The private rented sector (PRS) is in the news regularly these days, partly because of its growing size and partly thanks to rising rent levels, which after a quiet period of a decade have begun to soar in economically advantaged areas.

Some have called for rent control, but I think such measures are too hard to enforce. In a competitive marketplace, they could also lead to some odd side effects such as tenants offering hidden payments to landlords to secure their desired property …… Despite popular perceptions, our findings are that the majority of landlords actually want to hold on to good tenants for a long time – even if it means they have to accept less than market rent. Unfortunately, many landlords are restricted to offering tenancy agreements with fixed terms of no more than a year because of the terms and conditions of most buy-to-let mortgages.